Cycad produces male and female cone at Ventor Botanic Garden

A Cycad(Cycas revoluta)has produced a male cone at Ventnor Botanic Garden. This is the second time this has happened outdoors in the UK, the first was at VBG in 2012. Cycads are primitive plants that dominated the Earth’s flora some 280 million years ago until the evolution of flowering plants. During their reign, the Earth’s climate had naturally high levels of CO2. The climate of the Earth today, with artificially raised CO2resultant from fossil fuel emissions, may have influenced the cone production.

This can be seen as further evidence from the plant kingdom of climate change in action. This sort of plant could formerly not be considered hardy in the UK, the recent heatwave has contributed to the individual cone growth.

Since the discovery of the male cone,Ventor Botnaic Garden also now have signs of a female cone appearing on one of our otherCycas revolutaCycads. This is the first female cone outdoors in the UK, and the first time it, or anyone else, has had both male and female cones – let alone at the same time. This presents it with an exciting opportunity to transfer pollen and generate seeds for the first time in the UK for 60 million years.